Protect Women
By Felicia Davis, President & CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women
I want to take a moment to reflect on what Women’s History Month has meant to me — especially this year. I feel incredible joy, and I marvel at the resilience of women who have pulled through an exhausting year in the face of so much adversity. As we marked a full year into the COVID-19 pandemic, women are still shouldering much of the burden of our families and continue to hold our communities together. The innovation, adaptation, and pivoting women have done this past year should be celebrated.
This Women’s History month, I am also compelled to reflect on the many women who have come and gone before me. Women like Harriet Tubman, Maggie Lena Walker, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rev. Willie Barrow, Wilma Mankiller, Dolores Huerta, Shirley Chisholm, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Audre Lorde, who lifted their voices in the seemingly constant struggle for gender equity and racial justice. I stand on their mighty shoulders and know that I am connected to them by an oftentimes invisible link in the long chain of women marching for justice and equity. I am here thanks, in part, to these fierce women leaders and countless others who didn’t take no for an answer; who, despite the challenges before them, nevertheless persisted.
This year reminds me of a phrase I often heard as a child, ‘trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents.’ Women, like my mother and grandmother, were doing this when I was a little girl. Women everywhere have been doing this for a long time, but especially during this year. We still face an uphill battle as we work to recover workforce participation and income gains lost during the ‘shecession’ and advocate for policies that work for us and our families.
In addition to the challenges to our economic security, the safety and protection of women and our very survival continue to be at risk as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization continues to lag, and attacks on women skyrocket. When will our neighbors, colleagues, and legislators do more than listen? We demand more — we demand action.
The recent attacks that resulted in the deaths of seven women, including six Asian American women, in Atlanta, Georgia, are part of the continued escalation of violent crimes against women. I penned a letter in solidarity with the AAPI community, mourning the lives of the women who went to work and never returned home to their families. With so many enduring the pain and hurt. How many more will suffer?
The reinstatement of VAWA was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month, it’s one step forward, but obstacles remain for its passage in the U.S. Senate. The protection of ALL women should be a bipartisan issue. The reauthorization bill includes key provisions absent from the original bill. These changes protect women from the deadly intersection of guns and domestic violence. In 2017, the Chicago Police Department recorded more than 7,000 violent crimes against women, an increase from 2016. That is an average of 19 violent crimes a day. In reality, it’s much worse, as many violent crimes go unreported. What’s more, the data is insufficient at tracking crime rates against trans women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a surge in domestic violence assistance calls. The Illinois Domestic Violence Helpline received 28,749 calls in 2020, a 16% increase from the year prior, and text messages for help increased from 37 in 2019 to 936 in 2020. In direct contrast, domestic violence cases reviewed by the Cook County State’s Attorney were down 22% from 2019, even the Chicago Police Department data shows incidents down 12% from 2019. These statistics are certainly concerning, given that the people involved could be at risk of life or death. So much hangs in the balance. How much more can women take?
I’m encouraged by the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent steps forward to support women, but there is much more work to be done. I draw strength from the women leaders that came before me that continue to be an inspiration to keep fighting.
Let’s continue celebrating the strength, resiliency, and power of women beyond Women’s History Month and ensure gender and racial equity is at the forefront of all we do, as individuals and as community.
A version of this article was originally published as part of Chicago Foundation for Women’s “GoWomen” Monthly Newsletter which you can read here.
